The Planning System and Flood Risk Management - Offaly County ...
The Planning System and Flood Risk Management - Offaly County ...
The Planning System and Flood Risk Management - Offaly County ...
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5.4 <strong>Flood</strong>-Resilient Construction<strong>Flood</strong> resilient construction approaches accept that flood water will enterbuildings <strong>and</strong> that this situation should be allowed for in the design of internalbuilding components, services <strong>and</strong> finishes. <strong>The</strong>se measures should be carefullydesigned to limit damage caused by floodwater <strong>and</strong> allow relatively quickrecovery. However, these measures on their own are not suitable for areaswith potential for a combined risk of quickly rising water levels <strong>and</strong>/or wherespeed of flow is likely to be high <strong>and</strong> dangerous to the stability of buildings<strong>and</strong> the safety of people.5.5 Emergency Response <strong>Planning</strong>In addition to considering physical design issues, in planning <strong>and</strong> assessingnew development attention must be paid to the issue of effective emergencyresponse planning for flood events in areas of new development. This isnormally the responsibility of the developer.Key elements are:• the provision of flood warnings, evacuation plans <strong>and</strong> ensuring publicawareness of flood risks to people where they live <strong>and</strong> work;• Coordination of responses <strong>and</strong> discussion with relevant emergencyservices i.e. Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue, Civil Defence <strong>and</strong> An GardaSiochána through the SFRA;• Awareness of risks <strong>and</strong> evacuation procedures <strong>and</strong> the need for familyflood plans.5.6 Access <strong>and</strong> Egress During <strong>Flood</strong> EventsIn general, above-ground flood escape routes should be kept to publiclyaccessible l<strong>and</strong>, as safeguarding these is difficult if they are located withinprivate property. Such routes should have signage <strong>and</strong> other flood awarenessmeasures in place, to inform local communities of the impacts of flooding.<strong>The</strong> location of the most suitable access routes can be decided from the resultsof the flood risk assessment.5.7 Further InformationFurther <strong>and</strong> more detailed guidance <strong>and</strong> advice can be found athttp://www.flooding.ie <strong>and</strong> in the Building Regulations.In the UK, “Improving the <strong>Flood</strong> Performance of New Buildings” producedby the Departyment of Communities <strong>and</strong> Local Government is a valuableresource. In addition, a full technical report prepared for the Association ofBritish Insurers <strong>and</strong> the Building Research Establishment on <strong>Flood</strong> ResilientHomes can be downloaded from the ABI website (http://www.abi.org). Also,the British St<strong>and</strong>ards Institute (BSI) has introduced a "Kitemark" CertificationScheme for flood-resilient products, <strong>and</strong> CIRIA has published a number ofdocuments detailing flood-protection products for the home. <strong>The</strong>se can bedownloaded from the CIRIA website (http://www.ciria.org).81<strong>Planning</strong> Guidelines